54* AMERICAS* ANTHROPOLOGIST [x s., i. iS^
the idea that the islands and coasts he had discovered were a part of Asia, he never wavered, but died firm in that belief. It is therefore only natural that Columbus should have applied the name of " Indians " to the natives of the newly discovered lands, and no one in those days doubted the absolute correctness of his conclusions or the appropriateness of the term by which the new- found people were designated.
Among the few persons who manifested confidence in Colum- bus and had given him effective aid at the Spanish court, was Louis de Sant Angel, a court official, who not only advocated his cause, but advanced from his own resources a million maravedis to enable Queen Isabella to render the necessary aid to the Dis- coverer. On his return from his first voyage, when he had been driven into the port of Lisbon for shelter from tempestuous weather, it was but natural that to this benefactor he should send the first news of his success, which he did in the form of a letter dated February, 1493. The following extracts from this missive will prove how thoroughly he was convinced that he had reached the Indies. He says :
" As soon as I arrived in the Indies, at the first island at which I touched I captured some of the natives, that we might learn from them and obtain intelligence of what there was in those parts."
Again he says, referring to the Caribs :
" These people have many canoes which scour all the islands of In- dia and plunder all they can."
Then we notice a paragraph relating to Cuba in which, for the first time, the name Indians is applied to the American aborigines :
" I went along the coast 107 leagues — besides these 107 leagues there were further west two provinces to which I did not go which must be about 50 or 60 leagues long according to what I can make out from the Indians I have with me."
In another paragraph the Marco Polo myth of the Grand Khan crops out. Speaking of what is now San Domingo, Columbus says:
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